American Go E-Journal » Other

The Western Massachusetts Go Club had a respectable turnout of 18 players for the winter tournament, held on February 22 and hosted by Springfield College. There were 3 double-digit kyu players, with the remaining players from 3k to 5d. Players traveled from throughout New England – 200+ mi from Vermont, by Uber and bus from Boston, and from New York City.

Minghan Jiang 1d was the only undefeated player with a 4-0 record. Four other players had 3-1 results (right), and David Richardson 14k won the DDK division. Click here for full results, and here for more photos of the event.

report and photo provided by Trevor Morris.

On Sunday, January 19, 2020, twenty-six players braved the Southern California sunshine and warmth on a “winter’s day” to compete in the San Diego Go Club / Yellow Mountain Imports Go Rating Tournament. Competitors aged from 4 to 74. Yixian Zhou 6d, who bested the handicapped field with a 3-0 record, won a YMI board, stones and bowls. Aaron Jones 9k, Evan Tan 14k, and Angel Zhou 20, all won magnetic go boards furnished by Yellow Mountain Imports for winning their sections.  

After a break for free pizza, most of the players remained at the San Diego Chess Club to hear well-known go lecturer Yilun Yang 7P give the last of his fall/winter classes for the San Diego Go Club.

report and photos by Ted Terpstra

The New York Go Association will be hosting the 2020 NYIG Open in Little Neck, NY on February 8, 2020. The NYIG Open is a 4-round, AGA-rated tournament from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Fancy spending the evening with a Go World Champion after the tournament? This year’s special NYIG Open will be joined by two esteemed professional players from China, Gu Zihao 9P (right) and Wang Xiangyun 3P (below), who will teach and interact with our Go fans in the “Night With the Pros” event. After a Go lecture by World Champion Gu Zihao 9P and pizza, you get to ask your own questions during “Ask the Pros” with Gu Zihao 9P, Wang Xiangyun 3P, Stephanie Yin 1P, and Ryan Li 1P. 

For more details, please visit https://www.ny-go.org/2020-nyig-open or contact info@ny-go.org. 
-report and photos provided by Ryan Li

The regional state championship for Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia will take place during the Midwest Open January 18th and 19th 2020 just north of Columbus Ohio. “I hope to turn this tournament into a regional staple,” says organizer Devin Fraze. Inspired by the experience of attending the 2019 Cotsen Open, Fraze is aiming to create a truly unique experience for players. The tournament will feature live musical performances, opened by Hal Walker, a local Go player who plays a unique set of instruments. The tournament will also feature pro reviews, and an innovative pairing system to maximize games played. Registration fees will be $30 per day or both days for $10 off at a total of $50.

There will be an overall regional Tournament Champion, with four more champions specific to each state (OH, TN, KY, WV) awarded to the top performing players from their respective states. Find more information about the championship rules here. The website will also be updated to feature some exciting names from the Go community including 8 dan Korean professional Yoonyoung Kim. For more information and registration visit gohio.org.

Joshua Lee 6d defeated Qingbo Zhang 5d in the final of the 1st Virginia State Go Championship, held at Korean American Baduk Association in Annandale VA on November 16, 2019. The game was full of battles, but Lee kept a solid lead throughout the game. The Virginia chapters will host the next qualifier for VA Championship in summer of 2020. “We hope for more female and youth players in the next VA State Championship to win the prepared perpetual trophies,” says organizer Edward Zhang. “With AGA’s 50-State Championship program running for multiple years now we’ve been able to follow the progress of players all over the country.” Updated information for the Virginia Go Championships can be found here.

Organizers and Volunteers Acknowledgement:
CAFA Inc, Liang Yu, Justin Teng, Gary Smith, James Lee, Gurujeet Khalsa, Weiping Chen, Xinyu Zhang, Anna Liu, Qingbo Zhang, Grace Shan, Yuchen Zhu, Mark Keam, Ge Li, Dinny Li, Xinran Zuo, Huiming Zeng, Jing Zhang, Sihao Li, Jingfei Chen, Yufei Jiang, Shuo Wang, Jingyi Zhang, Kevin Wu, Xi Chen, Zhenying Gu, Kejun Kang.

8^thVirginia Open Winners Report on 9/28.
Open Division 1^st-4^th places: Eric Lui 3-0, Justin Teng 2-1, Qingbo Zhang 2-1, Joshua Lee 2-1.
Women’s 1^st-2^nd places: Sarah Crites, Ivy Zhang
Expert Division 1^st-3^rd places: Xuhui Zhang 3-0, Jialong Qing 2-1, Jiayang Su 2-1.
Intermediate Division 1^st-3^rd places: Derek Zhou 3-0, John Christensen 2-1, Bob Crites 2-1.
Novice Division 1^st-2^nd places: Adam King 2-1, Evan Moore 2-1.

photos by Liang Yu
report by Edward Zhang

The fifth South Central Go Tournament will be held Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16 in Dallas, Texas, at the Center for Asian Studies, a venue generously donated by the University of Texas and located on their campus in Richardson. There will be three rounds per day for a total of six; all AGA members are welcome at the tournament in either the Open Section or the Handicap Section and players may register for either. The Texas resident who places highest in the Open Section will become the 2020 Texas State Champion and will receive an engraved trophy.

Prior tournaments have drawn around 40 players altogether. All will receive a certificate of participation for competing; first, second, and third place finishers in the Open Section will get certificates acknowledging this achievement, and in the Handicap Section, first, second, and third place finishers in each band will also be awarded certificates. Further prizes are under consideration.

On-line registration is open at www.GoClubs.org, and you can find updated tournament details on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/southcentralgotournament. Send questions about the Texas State Championship to Bart Jacob at bart.jacob@gmail.com, or general questions to Bob Gilman at bobgilman.aga@gmail.com

Nine players, all kyu level, came together on November 23 from the New Mexican cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and White Rock to compete for the NM State Go Championship. Players competed to defeat Billy Maier 3k, the reigning champion from 2018. After winning all three games in this three round tournament, Billy remained undefeated and earned the right to hold the perennial trophy until next year. Other prizes included magnetic go sets and Kiseido gift certificates.

Robert Gilman 6k was awarded second place and Kyle Fenmore 1k took third. Some difficulties arose in determining final winners due to the technical reasons associated with small tournaments, and TD Robert Cordingley is looking forward trying a slightly different GoClubsOnline (goclubs.org) pairing strategy next year.

We were very pleased to welcome Janice Kim, who attended as a spectator from Albuquerque. Our thanks go to Peter Shotwell for the go sets, Kiseido Publishing for the gift certificates, and the AGA for their sponsorship.

report and photos provided by Robert Cordingley